<HTML><!-- eWebEditPro 1.8.0.2 --><P>What does the term <I>five by five</I> in a radio check mean, and where did it come from?<BR>JW</P><P><STRONG>Mark Matthews responds:</STRONG></P><P>JW,</P><P>The term <I>five by five </I>refers to the two measures of signal strength and readability; it is derived from older HAM radio instruments that were scaled from zero to 10 with 10 being the strongest.&nbsp; A five by five would be interpreted as 50 percent signal strength and easily readable, perhaps with some static or band clutter. A 10 by two would have a strong signal, but&nbsp;be broken and hard to understand, while a two by 10 would contain a weak signal, but be perfectly clear.&nbsp; A 10 by 10 would be very strong and crystal clear. </P><P>Mark Matthews</P><P><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8>&nbsp;</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=center><A href="http://www.sailnet.com/store/item.cfm?pid=1742"><IMG height=48 src="http://www.sailnet.com/images/content/authors/matthews/related_products.gif" width=320 border=0></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P><P>&nbsp;</P></HTML>